The forest of Mount Natagumo was thick with a cloying, white mist and the smell of rot.
As Zenitsu huddled in terror at the forest's edge and Inosuke prepared to dive into the fray, Okarun stood at the base of the mountain with Tanjiro.
"Okarun-kun,"
Makima said, her eyes fixed on the vibrating threads that crisscrossed the trees like a harp.
"The boy with the threads is the center of this web. But the 'family' he has created is built on fear. It is a fragile structure."
Okarun nodded.
He wasn't the shy, stuttering boy he used to be.
Every world jump, every absorbed soul, had forged him into something more decisive. However, his core was still the same.
"We don't have time to play hide-and-seek. I'm going for the core."
As Tanjiro watched in stunned silence, Makima walked calmly into the dark woods.
A group of puppet-slayers, their limbs snapping as they were pulled by invisible strings, lunged at her.
Makima didn't even lift a hand. She simply looked at them.
The Control Resonance within her, fueled by Okarun's presence, surged.
She didn't just break the threads—she overrode the "fear" that Rui used to keep his "Mother" in line.
Deep in the woods, the Mother Spider-Devil gasped. The terror she felt for Rui was suddenly replaced by an absolute, crushing devotion to the red-haired woman standing in the clearing.
"Go,"
Makima commanded softly.
"Kill the Father. Tear down the house your 'son' has built."
The Mother Spider screamed, not in pain, but in liberation.
She yanked her own threads, turning the Father Spider—a massive, mindless brute—into her own puppet.
The forest erupted in a chaotic civil war as the "family" began to butcher each other at Makima's whim.
Okarun didn't wait to see the outcome.
He didn't have a Nichirin sword yet, but he realized he didn't need one to reach his goal—he just needed it to finish it.
"Ayase-san, stay with Tanjiro. Protect them from the stragglers,"
Okarun said.
"PHASE-STEP: OVERDRIVE."
Okarun vanished.
He didn't run; he bypassed the physical distance.
He appeared in the center of the mountain, standing on the very threads Rui was using to play "family."
Rui, the Lower Moon Five, stared up in shock.
"Who are you?."
"I am Devil,"
Okarun said, his five afterimages manifesting around Rui, closing the distance instantly.
"And I am hungry."
Okarun struck.
He didn't use a blade. He used a Phase-Grip, reaching into Rui's chest and yanking out the concentrated Muzan-blood.
Rui shriveled in seconds, his threads turning to dust.
Okarun stood over the fading remains of the Lower Moon, feeling his engine hit 55%.
He looked toward the horizon, his gaze piercing through the mountain toward the city where he knew Muzan Kibutsuji was hiding.
"You said that Hashira are coming,"
Momo said as she and a bewildered Tanjiro caught up.
"But Okarun... you look like you're going to hunt something bigger."
"I am,"
Okarun said, his voice echoing with the authority he'd taken from the Infinity Castle.
"If I take a Nichirin sword from one of the Hashira, I'm not waiting for the story to play out. I'm going to find Muzan. If I eat the source of all demons, I will have more than enough energy."
Tanjiro looked at Okarun with a mixture of fear and hope.
"You... Can you really end him? The man who killed my family?"
Okarun looked at his glowing palm.
"If I have the sword to sever his head, he's just another meal."
Suddenly, a blur of motion appeared at the edge of the clearing.
Giyu Tomioka, the Water Hashira, and Shinobu Kocho, the Insect Hashira, landed gracefully.
Their swords were drawn, their eyes fixed on Okarun.
"Lower Moon Five is gone,"
Giyu stated, his voice like ice.
"But what are you? You look strange. But not demon"
Shinobu smiled, though her eyes remained cold.
"Oh my, what a strange group. A boy with marks, a girl with pink energy, and a woman who feels like a Queen. Should I kill you now, or will you surrender?"
10/10